Hi!!

Just got home from a wedding shoot....and I'm extremely disappointed with my experience with the SB800....

I used 8 fully charged ANSMANN batts [made in Germany]...2700....and they all wore out...What's worse is that, I used my built in flash in my D200 just to illuminate the reception shots...as I was concerned dragging my ISO beyond 500 due to grain....

Can any one be so kind enough to let me know why the batteries were so hot and drained in less than 3 hours when my assistant who used a 30D used the same batts for more than 4 hours and still has power and his batts weren't as hot when we took them out of the flash?

To all Nikon/ SB800 users out there, pls share with me if this is a common experience with such flash....

Thanks,
Dennis

I have battery issues too and would love to know a "fix."

somebody, pls help us out here?....any kind-hearted person, gal or guy....

What aperture are you using? Are you using any modifiers?

I can run an SB800 for an entire wedding on one set of 2700 mah batteries. (I normally switch them out just to be safe, but I have gone an entire wedding and reception on several occasions.)

most of the time I use a power pack so I have not had this happen-
but now i am curious-and want to see.....

Hi Hassel,

I varied my openings from f2.8 to 5.6 to f8... No modifiers...no domes...

Sometimes I used the attached white card, but very rare...

Dennis

It seems to me that there is a lot of variance between flash units. I have a SB800 and it does quite well on batteries, I too can go all day on one set. I had trouble keeping track of my rechargeables, like telling which were charged and which were used, etc. Plus I think they leak down pretty fast in storage, so I went back to using Energizers. I buy them in a huge pack at Home Depot and at the end of the day I throw them out. Maybe not the best way to do it, but it's simple and it works for me...

So anyway, if your unit is brand new and you bought it locally, perhaps go back to the store and see if you can exchange it? I doubt sending it to Nikon service would help since it does work, just not as efficiently as others. Maybe someone else has more experience with that?

As far as comparing it to a Canon strobe goes... I have a Canon 550EX that seems to recycle slowly and eat batteries (in comparison to my Nikon SB800 that is).

Dennis, we run two SB800s with Sam's Club Energizer 2500 mAh in sets of 5, using the quick-recycle attachment. It is rare that we go through more than two sets each from start to finish...

Are you shooting in TTL or full manual? Is it off-camera on a bracket?

Also, if you're using rechargeables what is your charging method? If you're using the [supposedly-] quick charger that came with the batteries then I can offer an alternative...

I would send it in to Nikon. It shouldn't go through that many batteries.

Thanks, Bill for sharing your thoughts and experience...I will find time to do that...will send it back to my local dealer and have it checked...Got really frustrated after buying 14 pcs of rechargeable batts 2700 mah and still experienced that fast draining and heating up of the batts....

Do you use TTL mode?

Will keep in touch tom...gotta sleep now it's already 12midnight here in my side of the planet.

Here's the alternative:

Get this battery charger.



We have one and it has been one of our best purchases so far.

If you're looking for battery test information, Imaging Resource is a great site to peruse.

I shoot Nikon, and love my SB 800s (it is the main reason I changed from Canon).

1. Batteries are cheap - I toss mine when I begin to notice a fall-off in recharge time.
2. There are many different variables to consider that affect power
3. ISO
4. Distance to subject (if you are using TTL)
5. Aperture
6. lens choice

The power needed to illuminate your subject can be compared to the relationsip between iso, f-stop, and shutter speed - for every full stop you close down, you are letting in 1/2 the light. The flash takes that into account, and adds more power to compensate. Same with ISO. Same with distance to subject, but it is 1/x^2 (where x=distance to subject).

If you are shooting manual on the flash (not on the camera), all this info is irrelevent.

Eric

Hi Damon,
I'm shooting in TTL mode, and attached to the camera. I just bought the Ansmann 2700 mah 2 days before the wedding and charged them using a Sanyo charger...I charged them for 1 hour or so....

I checked out the site you gave and man, it's loaded with tons of info...I'm not yet done reading them...would like to see their test results on the Ansmann 2500 mah....

What's the best way to charge the batteries, specially if I just bought them?

Dennis



Hi Eric,

Thanks for the info....in fact, that's all the more I'm figuring out what I'm doing wrong, since it's here in OSP that I read lots of GOOD EXPERIENCES with the SB....just reviewing the entourage shots this evening, the 2nd or 3rd shots were underexposed cause the flash didn't fire or it didn't recycle that fast...though I was in single servo....

Do your batteries also get so HOT after using them? Cause mine were so toasted my assistant couldn't pull them off the flash...

Dennis

Yeah, the little AA's get mighty hot.

Dennis,

I shoot with SB-800s and use Maha 2700 rechargeables.

When the rechargeables are new and fully charged, I can usually shoot an entire 8 hour wedding with a set of AAs but will usually change to a new set after the ceremony just to be safe.

I would suspect your batteries and charging regimen are more likely culprits before thinking that there's something wrong with the speedlights.

If just one of the batteries is bad or has a low charge, then the entire set will perform badly.

You mentioned that you charged your new 2500 batteries for only an hour, which seems like it might not be enough time to get a full charge.

I'd recommend that before you use your batteries again that, if your charger supports it, you do a full drain and charge for all of your batteries.

Also, it's not a bad idea to label them and use the same ones together so that you have a chance to isolate any bad sets/batteries.

bill

I'm guessing that a lot of it has to do with camera settings and how iTTL responds to those settings. The further in you zoom, the more power the flash will use. And of course this will all be adjusted depending on your ISO and Aperture settings as well.

Personally I tend to shoot at ISO 500, f/4 , shutter speed of 1/10 - 1/30th of a second. Most of the time I'll use the stofen that came with it, or bounce off of a low ceiling. Also check your metering mode as your iTTL information will adjust depending on this metering even if you're shooting in Manual. I'll usually have mine on Matrix metering while in the reception.

Rock on!

If you're bouncing and using TTL, you're going to burn up a lot more juice, since the flash will try to boost its output to keep up with the meter. You're messing with a VERY powerful flash, it's simply going to eat up a lot of power. I use a lumadyne battery pack. It saves on recycling time and lasts forever... but beware, I almost melted my flash with that sucker. You can get carried away easily.

At night weddings or in dark reception halls I do exactly that - bounce & TTL. A lot. So in a 3 to 4 hour reception I can go throught atleast 2 sets of batteries. Sometimes 3. We usually bring 4 SB 800's to weddings, so that way when one is dead we can grab another one and then change the dead one when we have time.

But during daytime weddings when I can shoot mostly natural light - never have to change it.

Thanks guys for pitching in your comments and thoughts on what I maybe doing wrong and what I need to look out for....your feedbacks are well taken....

Bill,
I checked w/ my assistant, I stand corrected, he charged the batteries for 4 hours per set of 4, as indicated for a full charge in the charger manual...We charged it for only an hour during the reception...I will label them as you suggested to isolate those that have been used...

Jeff,
Hi! You're right, I normally zoom in during the entourage walk w/c drains so much power...I used ISO 400 f3.5...how do you handle the noise @ ISO 500? I'm in Matrix mode or spot if need be....I don't think I can shoot w/ 1/10 to 1/30 coz that'll give me a motion blur....the slowest speed I shoot w/ is at 1/45....I assume you use a monopod when shooting at that speed....do you?

Shane & Courtenay,
Yes, I bounce my flash most of the time.....and the reception and church was very dark indeed...which I guess forced me to shoot at f2.8 and drained all batt power....

Best regards,
Dennis